Next stop... Rhode Island!

It's been a very busy three months! Three months goes by pretty fast on its own with all of the new changes with moving, but turns out that it goes into hyper speed with the addition of holidays and multiple work trips. I have absolutely no idea where the last 13 weeks have gone. As of this week, Jerrod's first travel assignment will be wrapped up in Tennessee and we'll be on our way to the next in Rhode Island this weekend! 

I'm so excited to move back to the ocean state and both of us have a to-do list composed of:

1. Arrive and do happy dance

2. Find crab cakes  

Pretty sure Bear is going to lose his mind when he sees the ocean for the first time :) Or a crab. Maybe I'll be a little better about updating this blog this time, too. Wouldn't hold my breath on that, but that's the goal. 

Here's to new adventures in Rhode Island! 

The next chapter...

A LOT has happened in the last month. 

We've changed our lifestyle, pretty drastically. Jerrod accepted an amazing position as a travel nurse! They told us that once he accepted, things would move pretty fast. I don't think either of us knew exactly how fast that was going to be. 

Let's just say, we found out he was accepted, found out we were moving to TN (at the end of the month), found out I was able to work remotely, and had an accepted offer on our house... all within a week! 

Before all of that happened, we actually put our house up for sale. We loved our house, our small town, and our neighbors, but hated the idea that a structure was consuming so much of our time. The only thing we wanted was more time to do the things we enjoy. Turns out, those things are not raking leaves, pulling weeds, replacing a roof or a water heater, buying things to fill empty space, or cleaning 2/3 of our house that we never ever used. Despite loving our first home, we both realized that the lifestyle was really making us unhappy. Tough thing to realize, but glad we realized it early on. 

So, we've been getting back to what makes us happy: Living minimally. Less stuff. More experiences. We sold and donated over half of our stuff. It took us a grand total of 3 hours to unpack all of our stuff once we got to TN! It was awesome. 

Jerrod also built a trailer. Correction... he built a freaking UHAUL! He built it from the ground up. I don't know how he does this stuff... but it's absolutely amazing. Oh, and did I mention it has lighting on the inside?! Of course it does! 

No, we don't live in the trailer :)

We packed up our lives and moved to our first assignment right outside of Nashville, TN. It was a long drive (longer than expected because of a trailer), but we made it! 

Ya know what makes an 873 mile trip a little more fun? Walkie talkies :D

Bye, teal counters!

Our kitchen got a little update! Nothing too drastic, but updated. 

What's kinda funny is we were originally going to granite countertops. Those were quoted at $4,000. Uh, no. Plan B... Laminate & butcher block, plus doing it ourselves. The grand total of the entire kitchen update - new counters, new fridge, new flooring, new sink, paint, and one VERY exhausting weekend -  $1,500. 

The new stainless steel fridge was off of Craigslist (thanks random lady who bought a brand new fridge, made her husband move it in, and then decided she wanted a different new fridge instead. !!!). Worked out for us! :)

Lessons learned:
1. Glad we were able to do it ourselves, but it's worth it to have a professional install counter tops. No house is perfectly square. Ours was built in the early 90's and we only have the one L-shaped counter top... and that still took ALL DAY with that so-called 90 degree angle. If you're installing anything other than laminate or butcher block, absolutely pay a professional. Most places won't let you purchase natural counter tops without an installation.

2. Butcher block is super easy. If it's done throughout the kitchen though, do your research on how to finish it. It's very important, especially if you're installing it where it'll have exposure to moisture (sink). Ours is only around the stove, so a little food-safe mineral oil worked perfectly. We used Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner (Home Depot), which is a food-grade mineral oil/beeswax. It works great. 

Before:

After: 

And some durings. Smashing tile at 7am was almost better than coffee! Almost. 

Bear was shunned from the kitchen for the weekend. He did not approve.

The Lightening Bug

30mph at max speed, downhill, with the wind at your back is not quite fast enough to be named the Lightening Bolt :)

I told Jerrod that I missed my scooter and I wanted another one. I came home from work the next day, put the garage door up, and this little red scooter (with about 5 bows on it) was in my space! It was the BEST surprise and I definitely screamed. The black flames (which were done in nail polish) were kinda awful... But I kiiiiinda loved them at the same time. Jerrod's new awesome paint job definitely wins though. 

Jerrod was wondering why someone would write "MINE" on the side. My thoughts - it's a push button start... No key. So you'd know for sure that it was yours if someone stole it and was riding around town. Hah! Luckily Jerrod fixed it up a little better so that's no longer an issue/concern. 

The guy who owned it before (Bob) gave the moped to his daughter (Maggie), and now it's mine (Emmy). I like it. 

The 48hr bathroom project

We weren't planning on redoing our bathroom this last week. I was going to finish one single shelf in the bathroom - see that one above the toilet? That one. - and that was it. Things escalated quickly... 

The old floor was a stick on tile that was coming up at the corners. It always looked like it was dirty since it was so scratched up. The floor is what started the whole project. 

The new floor is a click and lock bamboo flooring from Home Depot, which I would definitely use again. It was inexpensive, easy to install, durable, and it's so nice. I love it. The mirror was $38 dollars from Homegoods. Everything else was paint/stain, plus a toilet paper holder. Not too bad! 

Before and after:

Living room

This has been a bit of a slower moving project... Probably because it was started unexpectedly. Mostly by Jerrod saying "I wonder how easy it is to get this tile off the wall"... Followed by a hammer, followed by, "Well. That new hole in the wall pretty much goes right outside." In the middle of winter. 

It was a fun project that totally transformed the room, which are my favorite kind of projects. It makes our house finally feel like our home and not someone else's home from the 1990's. 

Before: 

And after:

And some "durings" :)

Laundry room makeover

Its been a while! We've been lucky enough to travel lately and treat ourselves to an amazing vacation. Now that we're back home, we've started some projects again. 

Laundry rooms usually get the short end of the stick. I've never had one that was very helpful, used space efficiently, or looked anything but pathetic. Ours was no exception. 

A little depressing, right? 

I'm okay with having the laundry in a closet. It doesn't really bother me, but having absolutely no storage drove me insane. That shelf was just sad. 

Jerrod asked for an idea of what I wanted: 

Basically 2 cabinets with shelves in between. One shelf tall enough for laundry detergent. That was my only specification. So, true to Jerrod form, I came home to a surprise :) who knew I'd be so excited about SHELVES. Hah!

A little paint, and ta-da! Now all that's left is painting the closet doors. Not looking forward to that! 

And because I like before and afters: